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A55
sports
March 22, 2015 www.guardian.co.tt Sunday Guardian
DISCLAIMER
Thursday 19 March, 2015
The public is advised that the Trinidad and Tobago Boxing
Board of Control is not authorized by law under the Boxing
Control Act to host any Boxing Card.
In this regard, the Ministry of Sport and the Sports
Company of Trinidad and Tobago are unable to fund or
sponsor any Boxing Card hosted by the Trinidad and
Tobago Boxing Board of Control.
It should be noted that legal advice is being sought on this
matter.
Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Sport
0320097
INDIAN WELLS---Serena
Williams withdrew before her
semifinal at the BNP Paribas
Open on Friday night with a
sprained right knee, 14 years after
her sister Venus did the same
thing and triggered an angry
reaction from fans that drove Ser-
ena to boycott the tournament.
The world s top-ranked player
was to play third-seeded Simona
Halep in the second semifinal.
Williams addressed the crowd on-
court after Jelena Jankovic defeated
Sabine Lisicki 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to
reach the final.
"A couple days ago at practice
I really injured my knee," Williams
told fans. "Today I was struggling
just to even walk."
After Williams brief comments
in which she didn t clarify she had
withdrawn, fans applauded with
only a few boos. As she walked
off, the announcer said she would-
n t be playing and he apologised.
Williams stopped to sign some
autographs on her way out.
She played four matches since
being warmly welcomed back a
week ago Friday, winning three in
straight sets. Williams told
reporters she first noticed the
injury when she was serving on
the practice court and felt a "super
sharp" pain in her knee. She
said she got an injection for the
first time in her career, but it didn t
help. "I have a tremendous amount
of inflammation in my knee and
it s going to go away. Unfortunately
I just need a couple of days," she
said. "That s the most frustrating
part."
Williams was back for the first
time since ending her boycott that
began after she won the title in
2001 as a 19-year-old and was
heavily booed. She was supposed
to play Venus in the semis, and
Venus withdrew 20 minutes
beforehand with a knee injury,
angering the crowd.
Serena went on to beat Kim Cli-
jsters in the final, but fans booed
her throughout the match and she
vowed never to return to the
desert. The sisters father, Richard,
later said he heard racial taunts
and there was speculation at the
time that he decided in advance
which sister would win their
matches against each other.
"I feel that was 14 years ago and
this is now. I did the best that I
could at this event, and I really am
happy to have put a lot of that
behind me," she said. "If I would
have known I had to pull out, I
would have played anyway just to
have an opportunity to be back at
this tournament and to be able to
play."
Williams called returning to
Indian Wells next year "a must."
Serena withdraws
from Indian Wells
with knee injury Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, returns to Andy Murray, of Great Britain, during their
semifinal match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, yesterday in Indian
Wells, California. Djokovic won 6-2, 6-3. AP PHOTO
FRANKFURT---Hamburg s bid to
host the 2024 Olympics was
approved unanimously by members
of Germany s national Olympic body
yesterday.
With no abstentions, 410 officials
at the German Olympic Sports Con-
federation (DOSB) general assembly
ratified the decision by its board to
put forward the northern port city as
a candidate over Berlin s rival bid.
The vote was taken after 2 1/2 hours
of speeches from various officials,
including German interior minister
Thomas de Maiziere and Hamburg
mayor Olaf Scholz.
"It can t be that everyone enjoys
looking at Olympic Games but doesn t
trust us to organize them. We can do
it," Scholz said.
DOSB president Alfons Hoermann
said the decision was a "turning point"
for German sports, and that Hamburg s
bid will be orientated toward the Inter-
national Olympic Committee s reforms
for more transparency.
"We want to be an example for an
Olympic and Paralympic future," said
Hoermann, who praised Hamburg s
"fascinating and compact Olympic
concept."
Berlin mayor Michael Mueller said
the German capital would support
Hamburg s bid despite its own disap-
pointment of losing out.
"It still hurts," Mueller said of Mon-
day s decision.
Hamburg s bid still has to pass a
referendum later this year in the city,
which has a population of about 1.7
million. A recent poll commissioned
by the committee had 64 percent of
Hamburg s residents backing an
Olympic bid. Opponents were already
campaigning against it.
The DOSB has until Sept. 15 to offi-
cially present Hamburg as a candidate
to the IOC. Boston and Rome have
already announced bids for the 2024
Games and Paris is also expected to
join the field. Other possible contenders
include Baku, Azerbaijan; Budapest,
Hungary; and Istanbul, Turkey.
The host city will be selected in
2017. Hamburg will likely bid for the
2028 Olympics if it misses out on the
2024 Games. Germany has not staged
an Olympics since the 1972 Summer
Games in Munich.
Munich failed in a bid for the 2018
Winter Olympics and dropped a
planned bid for the 2022 Winter
Games after it was rejected in a ref-
erendum. (AP)
Hamburg's bid for 2024 Olympics endorsed
She said she wasn t nervous facing
the crowd after withdrawing.
"I think both myself and the crowd
have a great appreciation for each other,"
she said.
Williams status for next week s tour-
nament in Miami, where she lives and
is the defending champion, is uncertain.
Halep advanced to today s final in a
walkover. She will play Jelena Jankovic,
who defeated Sabine Lisicki, 3-6, 6-3,
6-1.
"It s really tough for her that she had
to withdraw," she said about Williams.
"I know how it is when you are injured.
It s dangerous and you have to take
care of yourself."
Roger Federer defeated Tomas
Berdych 6-4, 6-0 and Milos Raonic
outlasted Rafael Nadal 4-6, 7-6 (10),
7-5 in a nearly three-hour marathon
to set up a semifinal showdown.
Federer improved to 15-1 this year,
with his only loss coming against
Andreas Seppi in the third round of
the Australian Open. Federer avenged
that defeat in the same round at Indian
Wells. He earned his first straight-set
win over Berdych since 2011 in Paris
and just his second 6-0 set ever in 19
career matches against the Czech.
Federer needed just 68 minutes to
advance to the semifinals against the
sixth-seeded Raonic.
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic defeated
Andy Murray 6-2, 6-3 to reach the
final yesterday, handing Murray his
worst hard-court loss to the world s
top-ranked player since 2007.
Djokovic will play for his fourth career
title in the desert in today s final against
either four-time champion Roger Fed-
erer, beat Milos Raonic, 7-5, 6-4.
Djokovic and Murray were playing
for the first time since the Serb beat
Murray in four sets for the Australian
Open title in January.
Djokovic dropped just one service
game in the 1 1/2-hour match. He
reached the semifinals after a walkover
when Bernard Tomic withdrew because
of a back injury.
Murray hadn t lost to Djokovic so
badly since a 6-1, 6-0 drubbing on
hard courts in Miami eight years ago.
(AP)